Hoo, boy

Heave ho, five in a row. All in regulation. Zero of a possible 10 points ripped right off the schedule. Your New York Rangers, right now out of a playoff position.

That’s all it takes, just as it will only take a three-game winning streak for them to be right back in it, and for everybody to snap ankles jumping back on the bandwagon.

Thoughts:

1) You know what? You can cry all you want about the first-period effort and the offense that showed up too late. Really that first period and the 3-0 deficit — insurmountable for this team — was all on Michael Del Zotto. And if you’re going to be honest with yourselves, you can’t be angry about that. We knew there would be nights like this, and here it was. It’s part of the process of throwing a teenager into the big leagues, on defense no less. No matter how great this kid’s potential, how high his ceiling, there will be nights like this. And since he’s a risk-taker in a ridiculously risky system, it’s actually surprising that there haven’t been more. You all wanted MDZ here, and rightly so. So live with it. I think that’s why John Tortorella wasn’t ripping mad last night. He knew it was on the kid, and didn’t want to pile on. And he knew that the first period wasn’t as bad as it seemed, but seemed horrible because it was 3-0 on three awful mistakes.

2) Given that, for decades and decades, the rule for a defenseman on a 2-on-1 against was to not allow the pass. “Let the goalie have the shooter, don’t allow the pass.” So why is it that the Rangers’ defensemen always allow the pass? Sometimes they slide on their bellies, and once in a while they get a piece of the pass (to cries of “Great play by Girardi; great play by Staal” on TV). But more often than not, they don’t take away the pass, they don’t take the man and let the goalie have the shooter.

3) Speaking of 2-on-1s, was it just me or did it really seem that Sean Avery, on his 2-on-1, looked over, saw it was Christopher Higgins coming down his left side and figured, “I’d better shoot this because Higgy will never get it on goal”? In truth, as bad as Avery has been, he is one of the few guys on the team that really understands “pucks and bodies to the net.” He’ll throw it to the paint from anywhere, and that’s what everybody ought to be doing by now.

4) The Coyotes messed up their own little 2-on-1 against when the defenseman slid past Gaborik. Everybody praised Christensen for his return pass, and it was pretty, but, geez, it was 2-on-0 by then.

5) Don’t you wish you had Don Maloney back and sitting in the big chair?

6) Tortorella and MSG made a big deal out of Prucha’s reaction to the high stick. Well, Rozsival’s stick caught him in the face. What do you think the studio voices or the coach, or anybody, would do if hit in the face with a stick? Right, you recoil. Whether it’s a sharp piece of wood or a shot from a water pistol, you recoil when you get hit in the face unexpectedly. It was a penalty. Correctly called.

Glen Sather needs to take Bobby Clarke’s lead and walk away. He has to see that he is to blame for most of the problems(or atleast the scouts and others that have his ear). Heads must roll. I have been following the Rangers faithfully for 22 years. But along the way their have been times where I refused to go to any games or support the team financially due to the disregard for it’s loyal fans( I’m sure Carp could tell you exactly which seasons I lost faith in them).I will still follow them and come to this awesome site often but instead of rooting for wins I am now rooting strictly for change (not to be confused with hope and change) :)

Oh by the way, can we take Dreary off the point on the powerplay? Let’s see, below average shot, below average scoring ability, and extremely poor at getting the shot through. Let”s put him out there on the powerplay.

Can this guy get a efffin shot on the net – i mean you have a man-advantage and still you shoot it at the other team’s defenseman!

Good crack of noon all! Just by this one post I see I haven’t missed much. In fact, dare I say it, I’m kinda glad I missed it.
On Thursday I was sitting by a pool in L.A. Now back to freezing and this….oh well. Back to reality. Sigh.

The team doesnt think Drury is a scorer. The team thinks he is a great presence on the ice with good vision and hockey sense. The fans think he should be a scorer… scoring isnt his role. I am trying to see exactly what his role is on this team. paycheck aside, he is a defensive center that can win a good percentage of faceoffs. He sees the ice well and plays safe in a risky system. Therefore his line, is a defensive, safe line.. Translated offensively handicapped.

The game was so frustrating, I ended up slicing my finger open trying to get a NyQuil pill to make the world fade away lol. No, the Rangers aren’t leading me to drugs, but being sick and having to watch that P*ss Poor effort can lead someone to drink.

At this point, just bench R&R twins, send ’em to Hartford and give some of the kids a shot. It couldn’t possibly hurt. I just don’t understand what the hell Rozi is doing on the PP.

Drury has been awful, but he has made some good plays. His problem is premature…u know. He gets the puck and *Cough/Choke*. First thing he should have the deciency to do is give up the C. I’m embarassed to have a Drury jersey. I have a beautiful picture of my daughter laying on it and I refuse to add that picture to her baby album lol.

BTW Carp, you had me cracking up because I think you are seriously right about Avery’s reaction. At least it was a beautiful goal. I wish I could have just seen the last 10 minutes of the game and just been done with it. The first 50 was horrendous.

They need to do something. Wonder how electric shock therapy would work every time they missed the net…Would Higgy be dead??

REPOST from game thread, a lil banter between myself and this years model… enjoy

ThisYearsModel January 30th, 2010 at 11:36 pm

Linda
Did you see how aggravated Avery was when Higgins ran into him? I think he is about to erupt. I imagine that he can’t handle being around teammates that don’t give 100%. That does not appear to bother Tortorella.

Linda January 30th, 2010 at 11:40 pm

on his goal, he looked over and saw higgins in onthe rush with him and was like “YEA I am takin it myself, this chode couldnt hit a golf ball in the gulf of mexico.

“AM 640 in Toronto are saying this deal happened because of Phneuf decline in regards to his salary. They are saying that he has never been the same since Sean Avery insulted him publicly”

Hahahaha. I can just picture him now, just like that scene in True Blood season 1, when Jason is banging that really hot girl, but he cant really get it up 100% because he keeps thinking about this girl getting “Fang Banged” (Vampire Sex), and it’s turning him off.

Some of you younger folks clue me in as to what passes for the stoopids nowadays.
We always thought that when you pulled the goaltender it was to give you an extra attacker and maintain possession of the puck. This team pulls the goaltender and then dumps the puck, and chase it into oblivion as the clock runs out.

This team always finds reasons not to skate. Keep on making those long passes to whoever is closest to it and hope it’s your guy. Keep dumping the puck in when there’s no chance of reclaiming it without an interminable tussle along the boards ( oh does this group like to play the boards).

…and never put a guy in the front of the goal..oh no…that’s against their religion.)

The announcers bemoan the lack of shots on goal..Hey mon! They don’t get shots on goal because they’re no where NEAR the goal.

They keep doing the same brain dead things game after game without let up, and you can almost choreograph their playing technique.

( opponents bench mutterings…”Gee that was stupid..do you think that it’s a trick to get us to drop our guard? When do you pull the goaltender and dump the puck..I was scared to go after it..thought it was a trick play….”

Yeah, Linda. You’re right. Golf ball in the gulf was better.
For one of the rare nights, I didn’t get through all the comments. Was soooo busy yesterday, and wanted to watch the game (why?) closely. I’m sure the comments would have been far more entertaining.

mikeben, Burke is right. I always wondered why GMs wait if they see something they want. I understand that sometimes the cost of a trade goes down at the deadline; but sometimes it also goes up if other teams are interested in the same player.

I think we’re at the point that they are unwatchable in a hockey sense, but watchable in that sad type of comic relief sense, almost like ‘what stupid things can they actually do now to look even worse’!!

Lmao @ brooks saying Aves used Higgins as a “decoy”!! That is awesome!!

and in regards to MDZ and the learning curve. Him and Girardi have been on the ice for way too many goals lately. We’ll take our lumps with MDZ learning as we go along, and maybe he needs to sit for a game or two in order to watch from above and slow things down in his mind. The sad thing is, our 3 ‘veteran defemenseman’ are all paired with our young guys, and the 3 vets totally suck!! It’s sad that our young guys are ‘learning’ from these 3. WE gotta hope those bad habits do not become ingrained in our young Dmen’s minds! Man oh man, if only Leetchie could work with the 3 young guys,they may actually learn something the right way.

That trade could be a potential disaster for the Ducks. Hiller is very streaky and Toskala has lost his mojo. If both of them aren’t going at once it could be like the Rangers with slumping Gaborik and Henrik.

Burke has to do something for the fans. This isn’t like our situation. If we tank…PERFECT, we get potentially a top 3 pick, but they don’t have any rewards for tanking cause they traded them. It’s either playoffs, or a waste of a year.

He needs to do something. Getting one d-man, and a decent goalie wont change that team. They lost the majority of their offense. Where is it gonna come from ? Oh well, time to call up that Hanson kid…old time hockey !!

In this day, adding salary cap issues is a no-no — in terms of big dollars and long terms. If you aren’t close to contending, there’s no way you should be adding either. Likewise, if you can shed a salary albatross and get multiple players in return, that can’t be bad.

NYRGuy – true.
VERY true.
But remember – Pronger came to prominence under Burke.
I think Burke will ride Phaneuf into shape and put the C on him.
This trade just wiped Phaneuf’s slate clean and he should have a bounce back year. Pair him with Beauchemin and that is a hard shooting duo on the PP.

I also think Phaneuf’s leaving Calgary gives Giordano the room to grow. That kid is unbelievably strong on the puck and will absorb Dion’s old minutes. White is a great addition to Calgary’s blue line and should pair with Regehr.

I hate to say it but Renney actually seemed to get more from his squad of journeymen than Torts has. Anyone can coach great talent but really good coaches inspire mediocre players to improve. Torts has not done that at all.

And obviously there’s an attitude of entitlement. We have an owner who inherited his wealth and this team and a GM whose career was given him by some of the greatest players of all time who now has a job he’s been told he can’t lose. And we have a captain who’s still being praised for what he accomplished as a child playing baseball.

It’s fitting that the Rangers don’t have a real backup goalie or a seventh d-man. There’s no one lighting a fire under anyone’s ass in the organization.

Wholly phaneuf!!! I’m out of the loop for about 24 hours a blamo, burke does it again, nice!!! AND ABSOLUETLY NO TO KABERLE, he is not what we need at all to fix this team. Exelby would help, komisarek probably, phanuef of course, kaberle…NO!!!

I’m not sure why there’s such a fascination on here with acquiring a defenseman from the Leafs. Without even considering whether a deal can be put together, Kaberle is the only one of that group I would want given those contracts, and he’s not exactly the type of player everybody is crying out for.

Kaberle is good as gone.
Anaheim has about $15M coming off the cap after this season. So, they are players suddenly.

NYRGuy- if Stajan can rustle up some Chemistry with Iggy (and they can re-sign him), Flames win this year.

Burke just made Toronto a little more tolerable for free agents and has solidified his defense and Goaltending.
Not a bad rebuild deal. Plus, Getting Aulie is Grand Larceny – that kid will be in the NHL next year. He’s like a Chara prototype and hits just as hard. I heard they have already assigned him to the Marlies so they can get started with him immediately.

Presumably somebody in the organisation politely suggested to Voros that he should cease his tweeting.

Which is strange, given the coach repeatedly puts his foot in his mouth in his dealings with the media and the GM essentially never even speaks to the media or the fans, so not sure why either would object to Voros updating us on where he is eating each night.

Carp, NYRGuy and a few others are right; GREAT MOVE BY CALGARY! The fans were turning against Phaneuf. He was overpaid, underproducing, and a problem in the locker room. DO NOT GET HIM! Toronto dumped most of their offense for guy whose a shell of the one who signed for 6.5million per. It could work out, but the risk is bigger than you can imagine. This is a post from TSN comments:

“wow, trading over one third of your offensive output on the season (57 of Toronto’s 149 goals) and a washed up goalie for another washed up goalie and an overpaid defenceman. Watch out, next trade will be Ponikarovsky, Kessel, Exelby and a first rounder for Redden, Rozsival, and Drury…… ”

NYR
i understand addition by subtraction there, but if I am going to give up a pick ot young player, even if a contract is less, I just do not want to get back a clone of the guy i’m getting rid of. If you get a banging d man, a number one center, or a physical winger that can score like holmstrom, then i would happily part with a young guy or pick!

Stay the hell away from Exelby. He hits, but holy crap is he bad. He’s just as bad as Phaneuf, if not worse because he doesn’t score points. Thank got Phaneuf isn’t a Ranger. He’s the most overrated d-man in the league. Many people just know his “reputation”, but if he was a Euro born d-man, the media would be ripping him.

And like someone said, the only really good d-man the Leafs have is Kaberle. Komi is way overpaid, so it Phaneuf. The other guys are decent and Schenn is having a terrible year in his development. Kaberle has been a stud for many years now and is the only one worth his contract.

somerset – the Flames have a ton of solid D. Phaneuf was probably their 4 or 5. They still have J-Bo, Regehr, Sarich, Pardy, and probably their best overall d-man Giordano (this kid is legit). Add Ian White and their D is pretty solid.

calgary made out well. they cannot score at all and adding hagman and stajan who are 20 goal type players will help.

gigure only has 1 yr left on his deal so he should help the leafs in the short run and have no long term negative eeffect on the team.

call me a politician these trades are good for all teams. anaheim saves money and adds blake for 1 yr. calgary gets much more scoring depth. toronto gets the guy with the most upside and are going no where anyway and gave up no difference makers.

these trades again were good for all parties, but toronto has a surplus of d men now.. komisarek at $4.5 does not look that bad on the rangers d .. trade roszival(less yrs.) higgins(deal up at end of yr.) and another piece or prospect(low end) for komisarek………………….

Calgary gets a great faceoff guy in Stajan and a Decent Defender in White. They get to remove Phaneuf who had become a whipping boy for the fans and press and give themselves some major cap flexibility. Calgary wins for this season. If they re-sign White and Stajan (if he works with Iginla) this could be a great deal by Darryl Sutter. If Stajan clicks with Iggy and signs elsewhere after proving his own worth, then it’s a long term loss. Stajan is key.

Leafs get two major components to build around. Unless Phaneuf Pulls a Redden (quite possible) he’ll be given tons of minutes and lots of rope. Toronto could win long term based on Aulie’s talent alone. Defensively, Toronto has changed overnight. Offensively…there must be some other deal coming soon.

man, I LOVE trade time in the NHL – I hope this is a sign of things to come.
Flyers signed Krajicek yesterday as well.
things are happening.

They have 45% of their cap space locked up in d-men right now. Van Ryn is out for the season and maybe his career, so he doesn’t count against the cap.

Rob E, I agree, Aulie is legit. If Phaneuf keeps playing crappy (which he will, he isn’t good), Aulie will be the key part of the deal.

Wicky, we can’t get any big hitting d-men that are actually good. They are all staying with their teams because they are key pieces. The ones we could get are all overpaid and overrated. Exelby is a terrible hockey player. He’ll throw a few big hits, but he’ll take 3 penalties a game and blow defensive coverage worse than any 6 of the d-men we have.

Lets not go nuts here and trade people for the sake of trading. If we’re dealing anyone, we should just grab prospects at this point. We have some solid hitting d-men in the system (see McDonagh, Williams and even Heikkenen) and solid depth at center. If we’re going to trade anyone, get a couple of young defensive prospects so we can grow the team around them. Going after crappy players like Exelby won’t help up at all (although he’s a UFA at the end of the year). If we can get Exelby and a pick, I’m good with that. But just for Exelby is a waste of a trade unless we can unload a big contract, which we can’t.

Rutherford, N.J.: Congratulations to James Dolan and Glen Sather for alienating perhaps the most loyal fan base in New York sports. The Rangers have done little to warrant the great support of their fans.

It’s gonna take some time to see who won the deal for Phaneuf. If he returns to the form that earned him the contract he has, then Toronto could potentially win. Failing that, it was a great deal by Calgary.

As for the Giguere/Toskala trade, good trade for Toronto simply because they won’t be stuck with Jason Blake in a couple of years. Plus, you never know if Giguere recovers his form.

Exelby doesn’t crease clear. He’s never around the crease and it usually by the boards trying to put someone through the glass (and missing). It’s probably not believable, but Redden is actually better defensively than Exelby…which is sad.

Also Komisarek and Beauch aren’t going anywhere. Apparently Burke is going to waive Finger and send him to the AHL (which he should because he too is overpaid). They are thinking about moving Kaberle after the year is up because his NTC automatically expires (I think).

Interestingly – this is the second player to break his contract by refusing to report in the minors. Although Krajicek played for a week before leaving the minor league squad. Sykora’s deal was broken in a similar way, but I know he had a mutual termination clause written into his deal.

i wish we could do that for Redden.
Send him down, have him not report, terminate his deal.

jonny
i don’t disagree with you about some of the banging d men stay with their teams, i’d like to get regher from the flames or volchenkov from the sens. Who are the guys that bang you would take IF they were available?

Thanks for the info JohnnyD. I remember Exelby the first few years of the lockout and in that 07 playoff series and he left a good impression on me. Was a real pain to play against and hit every Ranger in sight. Makes sense he stinks if Tor is using him as an 8th D.

Maybe they can do a Rozi and a pick or prospect who Torts isn’t going to give a chance for Kaberle but probably not.

Orr – good point.
But, if you make a guy unwelcome, he’ll waive his NTC to go where he’s wanted.
Just ask Dan Boyle in San Jose (Tampa told him to waive his NTC or they’d waive him and he’d end up in Atlanta – he took the Deal to San Jose.) or even Jiggy today to Toronto! Giguere gets a shot at #1, A reunion with Burke and his former goalie coach Allaire, and I read months ago when this deal was speculated that there is a specialist that can treat his child in toronto.

As for the oilers – when does the fire sale start there? Souray’s hand is a bummer, but if he can play by the end of the Olympic break (possible – 4 weeks from now) he still has some value.

30 THINGS BETTER THAN GLEN SATHER (and really the Rangers as well at this point)

28. Stepping in Dog Poo
Man isn’t that the worst? Especially when it’s not even your dog’s product. You’re just minding your own business, walking across the grass and suddenly you step on something gooey. Ugh! Now your shoe smells and you have to scrape that crap off the bottom of your shoe, and don’t you dare drag that stuff in the house! Man, dog shit is the worst! We should teach our dogs to pick up after themselves. Oh well, a man can’t dream can’t he? So next time you find a smelly present on the bottom of your shoe, remember: it’s no worse than Glen Sather and his Rangers right now.

For trade or over the summer? I still don’t know why we didn’t go with Bouillon over the offseason. The guy is small and has some miles on those legs, but he can still skate and throws monster hits. He’s solid in his own end and while he won’t put up much on offense, he has a decent shot. Don’t know why we didn’t go after Randy Jones either, who has done well with the Kings. Brent Sopel wouldn’t be bad either since he’s experienced, but he has another year left on his deal. Also Shane Hnidy would be a solid addition and very cheap too (he’s not going anywhere though).

We should try to dump salary where possible for expiring contracts and worry about picking up a few FAs and building around our young talent. This team isn’t living up to their potential at all, not even close, so we need to just dump and start over. Torts is a coach that wants a fast team that hits and plays a hard forecheck. Lets stop trying to make that happen with crap and actually focus on bringing in guys that can play that style.

Why does everyone assume Kaberle is gone? Burke specifically kept Kaberle this year when dealing for Kessel because of how much Burke liked him. He is getting paid 4.25 million and is the team’s leading scorer. No way they move him until next year at the deadline if they are out of the playoff contention.

Also if we want a true PP QB to help out DZ over the summer, we should def look into getting Joe Corvo. He plays Torts’ style, isn’t too much of a defensive liability (his numbers this year aren’t too good before he got hurt because Carolina was terrible), and can move the puck up ice extremely well. Mind you this is only if we find a way to remove Redden and Rozsival from the lineup. Both going to Hartford wouldn’t be all that bad, and I am a Rozsival fan. Rosy can be good on another team that plays more of a Euro style, not with the Rangers though.

Doodie – I agree. Even though Komi and Beauch aren’t going anywhere, they have more of a chance of going anywhere than Kaberle does. The only way Kabby goes anywhere is if they get a top center or winger and a draft pick. Burke won’t just move him to get a few 2nd or 3rd line guys. He isn’t in any rush with Kulemin, Bozak, Kadri, and a bunch of others growing in the system.

I hope Girardi is gone, but not at the deadline. He’s a UFA at years end so we should hold him and let him walk unless he wants the same contract. I also think I’m the only one who wants to keep Higgins until year end. He’s a UFA at the end of the year as well. Let him walk to free up space unless we can get some picks or prospects in return.

Doodie- In my opinion, Kaberle’s value is never higher than it is now.

He’s on pace to break 50 points, with 55 a distinct possibility – that would be his 3rd best total ever – playing on a HORRIBLE leafs squad that is now overloaded with Defensive talent. The Leafs are in rebuild mode, the playoffs are a longshot next year right now.

What could Kaberle do in a mobile system with a full complement of skilled forwards up front? Plus his amazingly affordable contract makes him a great catch for the last year of his contract. Acquiring Phaneuf has put the writing on the wall. I think Kaberle’s Outta there.

Rob, his value is high because he’s worth it. He’s not trading a good player like that for draft picks/prospects. There isn’t a better monetary value at forward he would get in return, and lord knows he doesn’t need defense.

I don’t think Kaberle goes anywhere until the deadline next year, if anywhere at all.

Didn’t say they’d deal Kaberle for Picks/prospects. You’re right – Kaberle is worth more than that, but not a 1st line center.

But If they can’t afford Kaberle after next year, (he’ll be in line for a raise) there’s no reason to hold him through a non-playoff year that might ruin his value. If Kaberle has a bad start year next year or breaks a foot, his value is halved.

I still say the way to cup for the Rangers, is to develop the young guys. I don’t like trading young guys or picks for guys that may turn out to be Rozi or whom ever. Lately Sather has not had a great record for making trades. Granted there are times when trades benifit the team, but I really like bringing guys through the system.

There are plenty of good players in the top 10 of the draft this year besides Hall and Seguin. Fowler is a stud on D and has played with Stepan and comp, russians Kabanov and Tarasenko have a lot of hype, and that Swiss kid Neidereter is pretty darn good too.

i can’t believe that everyone wants to trade girardi. he is a good young dman who is still developing. he is a second or third pair blueliner asked to take on too much resposibilty. what ever happened to letting our youth develope at the NHL level?. also for all of you who want Souray you are asking for more of the same. he is one of the worst d men in the league in his own zone. and is know old. we are stuck where we are for another year. its not about just this year

Man, what does mess know about being a GM? And he’s learning from Sather, which won’t help him. Though I’d assume Mess would have a better eye for talent than Sather, as he’s played the game. But still what’re we gonna run Mess outta town if he sucks? Not like it matters to Dolan.

carp, Redden ugh, I know but how many penalities on Rosi in the 2nd half of the game. Why wouldn’t trade Dan G or Higgins @ the deadline? Guys we should be seeeelers,Higgins,Drury(if he will waive it and me thinks he now will)Kotalick,Boyle,Brash,Rosi,Redden,Christinson,Vinny. All the rest should be on the market if we can one of the 3 stoogies contracts to go with them. Fire Sale time.

somerset, if we’re gonna be sellers, he’s really the only valueable asset we have that we’re willing to part with. Find a way to get rid of R&R next year, and Prospal will coem back, for some more money hopefully…

Propspal has been ok and a good find for 1mil, but he got his points with Gabby early in the yr, atleast he had some chemistry, but he is UFA and somebody may want him, package him with some garbage and picks and clear the Cap. He would be a nice third line player for a contender, he;s our second best forward. That’s how talentless our offense is.Sell him if some junk goes as well.

This is a good deal for the leafs only because of the potential of Pfanuef to regain his form. He is only 24!! What the Leafs gave up was nothing. They are in the Bottom three this year with those players and were going knowhere with them last year as well.

As for us, I would dump Girardi,and Prospal and a second rounder and Higgins and a third to the Kings for Colton Tuebert and Thomas Hickey and Frolov. Frolov Is a UfA at the end of the season and is somewhat like Nick Z. Tuebert maybe ready next year and he is a thumper. Hickey is more of a Question mark but if he makes it, it will be as a PPqb to play with Mdz on the PP. So the only real chip here is Tubert.

Next I would trade Rozy,Sags and Kotalik to the Blackhawks for Jack Skille,Heljarrson and a And Bob Brauer. Skille has no chance or room to make that lineup. Brauer is a big third line type guy who can score a little. Kotalik Helps them on the PP and adds some scoring. Sags is a depth+ dman for the future for them. Blowzy gives them some vet presence and playoff expierience on the defense and he only has two more seasons on his contract. Remember, they are going for the cup this year.

I would then put Dredden in the Ahl. I would sign Mcdonugh and see what he can do for whats left of this year. I would do the same with Stepan. I think he is a bigger version of Doug Weight which is a good thing.

tyree – Girardi isn’t that good. He’s decent, but nothing special. He wouldn’t crack a ton of teams lineups in the NHL.

Also lets not trade draft picks. This year isn’t as deep as years past, but there are plenty of good guys coming out. You won’t hear about most of them because of the Seguin-Hall conversation, so people don’t know about the other guys.

Hedberg – we only trade them if we get prospects back. Otherwise we let them go off the books at the end of the year and use that money to sign either a relatively big name or a few hard workers. Then build around the forwards of Stepan, Grachev, Anisimov, Kreider, and others (I know Stepan and Kreider are like 2 years away but they will be solid NHL players).

Czech – yes, all those trades can clearly happen because this is NHL 10 haha. Kings aren’t letting Teubert or Hickey or any of their prospects go unless they get Kovalchuk. That’s it. Plus Hickey is 10x better than Teubert. Also, the Hawks have no cap space as it is.

Johnny D no we trade most everybody if we can package one of the 3 albatross contracts, prospect are ok if it’s a one on one trade for stiffs like Higgins. Trade the draft picks as well if we can unload the previous mention Cap killers. It’s not as much about youth as it is about the CAP

The Kings are going for the cup and a player like Prospal would be a major upgrade for them. Frolov has under achieved for years and won’t resign with them next year. Hickey is not better than Tuebert and has yet to make any imoact for that orginization. Girardi gives them playoff expierience and depth as does Higgins. Like I said, Tuebert is the only real asset here and he will have trouble cracking that d lineup. And know this is not nhl 10. When teams are shooting for the cup they make trades that may seem to be a bit against themself. I bet you remember the Tikkane for Weight trade. As well as the Turcotte and Patrick for Larmer trade. You’ll also recall the Amonte for Mattieu and Noonan trade. And of course the Gartner for Glenn Anderson trade. All those trades have one thing in common, giving up potemtial and youth for veteran playoff expierience and a shot for the cup. All the trades I mentioned looked like NHL 2010 trades for the teams making them with the Rangers at the time but the result for the Rangers was a stanley cup. So I’m not being funny at all. also think that we as fans under value the players on our team more than the rest of the league does. As an example, did you not think that Higgins was a possible 20 goal man when the trade was made? I know most fans did. So don’t be so dismissive of what can happen here in the next three weeks. Than again Glenn Sather is the guy pulling the trigger so maybe you are right.

Hey ,Carp. I’m surprised on this Don Maloney stuff. He was one of Sather’s hand picked Generals. Everything he learned was from the boss and his organization. But that was after he left the Island and the Mausoleum where his offices were up in smoke. The word I got was that they escorted him out the back door. And there are no memorials on the Island for Don Maloney.Sather was lucky to raise him from the ashes. In fact I think the timber is still burning on the Island. But they do have plans for a new Stadium sometime in the future. Now if you said this this last year at this time, I would ask that you first see you Doctor.Things sure look better in Phoenix with Dave Tippett as the Coach.

I’m secretly praying that Johnson gets a minor injury tonight, that Hank is too sick to come in so Torts puts Drury in goal against his wishes…Drury then gets a season-ending injury and is so irate that he had to play goal he vows to never play for the Rangers ever again…

This team is not going to make the playoffs. They can’t make trades that would benifit the team, Sather has made most of these guys untradeable, because of the money they make, and the tradeable guys would not bring much, because of the seasons they are having. The guys that would make a good trade, the team should keep. Thats the way I see it.

Burke made an excellent deal. And there is a reason he made it so early. He now has more tough bangers on the blueline than the whole Atlantic division does. He will patiently wait until the deadline (despite him saying otherwise) and see which contending team is desperate to give up more for a couple of them. Toronto will have more 1st round picks than we have thirdliners. They may also get a few quality players too… Good morning, Glen! Go and see if you can properly spell Olga’s last name. Suka!

Alex – I’ve followed the Kings for about 4 years now, they aren’t going for the cup this year. Lombardi already said he just wants to build around the youth he has now. Loktionov, Teubert, Hickey, Moller, and Schenn are the new guys coming up. He won’t trade them. This isn’t their cup year, they know that.

Their goal is to make the playoffs and see how they do. Next year is the year they want to compete for the cup, so unless they get Kovalchuk now, they won’t trade any of them to risk their future. Plus they brought in Ryan Smyth and Sean O’Donnell to be the veteran guys. Next year they might make a move, but even then Hickey and crew might already be NHL ready.

Harry, Don Maloney was not handpicked by Sather. He was hired by Neil Smith. And yes, with him the Rangers had some bad drafts — but first of all he wasn’t the GM, and second he wasn’t the head scout. He was assistant GM.Plus the draft is such a crapshoot that, believe it or not, even Lou Lamoriello sometimes picks somebody who doesn’t turn out to be very good.
Third, the fact that the Islanders let him go and hired Mike Milbury is not exactly an indictment of Maloney.
Fourth, he is SOOOO much better than the guy in office now, and it could have been him in 2000, because when Muckler and Smith were fired, he and Tortorella took over. Dolan skipped over him.
Fifth, even if he does make a personnel mistake once in a while, he is a very bright guy who has Rangers in his blood, and he’s a decent man who cares deeply about his team’s fans and therefore presents himself as a spokesman for his organization.
In short … he’d look great in the big chair right now.
Oh, and he hired Dave Tippett and has a team with no money in contention in the West, and coming off a victory over the NYR.

OK. But what I take from your comments and SOOO much of what you and Brooks say -it is of a personal nature. If you want to make the Rangers better please try to be objective. I don’t feel you and especially Brooks are.